Georgia on my mind

I spent much of yesterday and today driving through the great state of Georgia (that’s the US State, not the Soviet one). I have some observations to make about these folks that I wanted to share with you.

Now Georgians are some of the most wonderful people that you could meet. But when they get behind the wheel of a car, all that changes. Here are some of the things that I noticed while traversing three hundred and fifty miles of the state on I-75.

Georgians don’t signal. This is my pet peeve, and the single most dangerous thing about freeway driving. They swoop majestically from one lane to another without signaling, and in many cases without looking. I was nearly sideswiped a couple of times because of this.The worst offenders appeared to be guys in big pick up trucks with names like ‘TITAN’ (You say ‘Nee-Sun’, I say ‘Datsun’) and ‘Tundra’ (which means barren Arctic wasteland, last time I looked) — turn down the country music, put both of your your hands on the wheel and pay attention! — and women driving big SUVs who are too busy yabber-yabber-jibber-jabbering on the phone to work their turn signals — put down the damn phone!

They also have a lousy sense of lane discipline. While passing on the right is legal, is is not the wisest of maneuvers, I found myself doing it much more than usual, as Georgians seem to have an aversion to the right lane.; the lively ones are all stacked up in the left lane, while Grammaw and Grampaw are peacefully snoozing in the middle lane.

Driving too close. A lot of them — particularly Pickup Trucks and SUVs (again) — have a tendency to drive too close to the vehicle in front, so they are constantly touching their brakes to avoid a collision — a game I call hitty-hitty-brakey-brakey — which results in brake lights disturbing everyone for half a mile behind them.

Georgians are not the rudest drivers on the road (that distinction goes to New Yorkers), nor are they the meanest (Chicago) or the most excitable (Los Angeles). But they are among the most irritating.

Anyway, that’s all behind me now; I’m so glad that I can finally get Georgia off my mind.